SOUTHERN ONTARIO PRO4 MODIFIEDS

Shannon Morris earns the Win at Flamboro Speedway

Stories by Ken Mercer Race

three of the Southern Ontario Pro4 Modifieds (SOMA) season was held at Flamboro Speedway on July 1 weekend. Race director David Hebert had commented before the drivers meeting that the racing action would be fierce, as points leader Robert Mercer was defending his lead, with rookie Dario Cocco and veteran Shannon Morris in hot pursuit. The stakes were high, the VIP tower filled with corporate and major race sponsors, plus car sponsors, many new to racing and enjoying the birds-eye view. SOMA gave them a great show and the guests enjoyed great home track hospitality!

The heat race would set the line-up for the feature. New member and first-time race event driver Liz McFarland finished a very respectful middle of the pack, kudos to you Liz. Another new driver, Clayton Morris, retired early with an engine issue; Clayton looks like a natural and we look forward to seeing more of this young man. Cliff Hodgkinson (the Gorilla), Shannon Morris and Robert Mercer traded positions during the heat, but when the checkered flags waved, Mercer stuck his front bumper past Morris to pick up the win.

The pole position went to Andrew Snyder, with Ken Mercer beside him for the waving green flags; they raced the first couple of corners side-by-side. On Lap 3, Snyder was

Southern Ontario Sprints

Story Courtesy SOS Media with files from Brent Otchere

Ryan Turner has been close to a win in the Gary Cunningham Memorial a few times and finally broke through in the Southern Ontario Sprints (SOS) at Merrittville Speedway.

Turner and Baily Heard started the 25lap A-Main on the front row. The two raced hard for the lead until Darren Dryden spun and was collected by Kevin Pauls. The restart was helpful for Dylan Westbrook, who started in Row 11 due to a flat tire in his heat race. The two-time SOS champ immediately gained four spots and eventually finished eighth.

Heard held the lead until Turner got past him, just before the halfway mark. Mike Bowman got past Heard for the second

Driver Spotlight

challenging high on the outside, got loose in the marbles and hit the wall hard. The safety crew checked him out and released him, but his car was not as lucky. A single-file restart put Ken Mercer, Morris and Robert Mercer to lead the pack to the green flag. Ken led until Lap 17, when Morris tucked the nose of his sleek modified under Ken’s left-rear and made the pass. Morris held on for the waving checkered flags, with Ken and Robert tightly behind.

When the race ended, the drivers all went to the VIP tower and enjoyed the remainder of the racing events.

spot and tried his best to catch the leader, but Turner stayed up front to take the $3,000 victory over Bowman, D.J. Christie, Matt Farnham and Heard.

Humberstone Speedway

Westbrook started on the pole and led all 25 laps en route to his third career Humberstone win. Turner finished second, followed by Mitch Brown. Dryden and Farnham raced wheel-to-wheel for the fourth spot, with Dryden eventually prevailing, while Farnham rounded out the top-five. The only major incident of the race came when Shone Evans’ car tipped over to bring out a red flag, but he was able to restart and finish the race.

Ohsweken Speedway

Bowman has wasted little time getting

Dario Cocco is a 20-year-old heavy equipment mechanic for Astro Excavating Toronto, brand new to oval racing, and is now the owner and driver of a beautifully prepared Southern Ontario Pro 4 Modified race car. So far this season, Dario has had several top five finishes and a heat race win at Grand Bend Speedway. Dario is no stranger to speed and motorized equipment, with a real love for ATVs, motocross and sleds; he is a young man to watch in our BCW Lumber Race Series. There is no doubt in my mind that you will see Dario high on the podium for a feature win! IT up to speed in Sprint Cars. The local Modified star took his first career 360 Sprint Car win and the $4,010 winner’s cheque at Ohsweken.

Brown started on pole for the race, which honoured both his grandfather Harold (Little Ben 1-10) and Harvey Lennox (Tammy 10). A caution appeared on the first lap and Turner capitalized on the restart, quickly taking the lead, before Brown reclaimed the spot on the following lap. The battle raged on until Turner retook the lead midway through the race.

The second caution was due to Bowman getting tangled with traffic on lap 13. Bowman was able to continue and took full advantage of the restart, claiming the lead and building a gap of over 2.5 seconds. Bowman went on to win, ahead of Tuner, Westbrook, Brown and Christie. IT